News Releases

10/14/1998

Hitachi Announces Next Generation Digital Video/Audio Documentation And Archiving Appliance

Oct 14, 1998 00:00 AM

Employing MPEG Technology, The Hitachi M2 Offers Multiple-Media Digital Recording Capability for Commercial, Industrial and Technical Applications

Hitachi America, Ltd. today announced the introduction of its second generation multimedia appliance, the M2, employing MPEG-1 technology to record full-motion video and audio and JPEG technology for photographs all stored on a 260-megabyte PCMCIA Type III hard drive.

The Hitachi M2 is the world's first and only digital multimedia recording device capable of digitally capturing and storing up to 27 minutes of full-motion video (MPEG-1 format), 3,000 photographs (JPEG format), and four hours of MPEG audio -- and combinations of all three formats. Files are stored on a 260-megabyte PC hard drive and can be transferred to a computer hard drive easily for processing and editing thus making this an ideal input device for an array of multimedia applications.

The M2 is priced at $1499 and is available for immediate delivery.

"Hitachi's innovative products are designed to help businesses incorporate leading multimedia capabilities into their day-to-day activities," said Motomitsu Sadayasu, vice president and general manager of Hitachi America, Ltd., Computer Division. "The M2 offers a consistent and flexible tool for documenting, archiving and capturing an incredible range of information using a combination of motion video, still images and audio narration that is unparalleled in the industry. The M2 multimedia appliance can be used in a variety of applications from advertising production and architectural documentation to risk management, law enforcement and forensics to real estate and Web development. "It is our expectation that customers in a variety of commercial and industrial markets will find the M2 to be an exceptional yet practical business documentation and archival appliance."